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MapleStory Marksman Skill Build Guide

Archer can advanced as a Bow Master or Marksman. This specific job route is determined when you reach Level 30. For this job, you will undergo as Crossbowman (2nd Job Advancement), Sniper (3rd Job Advancement) and Marksman (4th Job Advancement).

Crossbowman – Archer 2nd Job Skills

Rangefinder
When attacking nearby enemies, increases your Ignore Defense Rate. When attacking far away enemies, increases your total damage.
Level 1: Based on distance 200, when closer than 18 the Ignore Defense Rate increases by 3% up to a max of 20%. The farther the distance, damage increases by 4% up to a max of 30%

Net Toss (Active)
Throws a net on enemies, limiting their movements and inflicting damage.
Level 1: MP Cost: 12, Attack up to 8 enemies with 161% damage 2 times. 100% chance to stop enemies for 6 sec. For bosses, it lasts for half as long and their movement speed is reduced by 50%. Cooldown: 5 sec
Level 10: MP Cost: 21, Attack up to 8 enemies with 215% damage 2 times. 100% chance to stop enemies for 10 sec. For bosses, it lasts for half as long and their movement speed is reduced by 50%. Cooldown: 5 sec

Soul Arrow: Crossbow (Supportive)
Increases Attack Power and allows you to use a Crossbow without using arrows for a short time.
Level 1: MP Cost: 13, Attack Power: +11, Duration: ??? sec, able to attack without using arrows.
Level 20: MP Cost: 22, Attack Power: +30, Duration: 300 sec, able to attack without using arrows.

Marksman – Archer 4th Job Skills

Last Man Standing
Attacks against a lone target do much more damage.
Level 1: When the skill hits a single target, if there are no monsters within 80 units of the enemy’s left and right, final damage increases by 2%
Level 10: When the skill hits a single target, if there are no monsters within 80 units of the enemy’s left and right, final damage increases by 20%

Bolt Surplus
Increases the number of attacks for all multi-hit skills. Also increases Rangefinder’s Ignore Defense Rate and maximum damage increase.
Level 1: Increases the number of attacks for all multi-hit skills by 1. Rangefinder’s Max Ignore DEF increases by 21%. Final Damage Boost increases by 31%
Level 10: Increases the number of attacks for all multi-hit skills by 1. Rangefinder’s Max Ignore DEF increases by 30%. Final Damage Boost increases by 40%

Piercing Arrow
Fires an arrow. Its effect increases with each enemy it hits.
Level 1: MP Cost: 24, Damage: 205%, Max Enemies Penetrated: 6, Number of Attacks: 4, final damage increases by 20% at every pierce and damage is doubled.
Level 30: MP Cost: 42, Damage: 350%, Max Enemies Penetrated: 6, Number of Attacks: 4, final damage increases by 20% at every pierce and damage is doubled.

Vital Hunter
The further you are from your enemy, the lower their defenses will be.
Level 1: 1% Defense ignored at minimum distance. Increases by 1% per 40 distance. Able to ignore up to 31%
Level 20: 10% Defense ignored at minimum distance. Increases by 4% per 40 distance. Able to ignore up to 50%

Marksman 5th Job Skills

Marksman Skill Cores

True Sniping
Accurately snipe enemies in your sights. Use your left mouse click to attack and right-click to cancel the skill.
Level 1: Consumes 1000 MP. Fire up to 6 arrows dealing 1248% damage 9 times on up to 12 enemies with an additional 100% critical rate and 100% defense ignore. Enemies closer to the centre of the scope will take increased damage, from 15% up to 100% based on the distance. You can aim for up to 12 seconds, during which you are invincible. You will also be invincible for 2 seconds after the skill ends. Cooldown: 180 seconds.
Level 25: Consumes 1000 MP. Fire up to 7 arrows dealing 2400% damage 9 times on up to 12 enemies with an additional 100% critical rate and 100% defense ignore. Enemies closer to the centre of the scope will take increased damage, from 15% up to 100% based on the distance. You can aim for up to 12 seconds, during which you are invincible. You will also be invincible for 2 seconds after the skill ends. Cooldown: 180 seconds.

Split Arrow
Infuse your arrows with a mysterious aura, causing them to split into multiple arrows when they hit an enemy.
Level 1: Consumes 800 MP. For 60 seconds, when Piercing or Sniping hits an enemy, the arrow will split, dealing 624% damage 5 times on up to 10 enemies. Cooldown: 120 seconds.
Level 25: Consumes 800 MP. For 60 seconds, when Piercing or Sniping hits an enemy, the arrow will split, dealing 1200% damage 5 times on up to 10 enemies. Cooldown: 112 seconds.

Bishop 5th Job Skills (GMS | MSEA)

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86 thoughts on “MapleStory Marksman Skill Build Guide”

please readJune 30, 2017 at 7:23 PM

If you read the description of Bolt Surplus carefully, you’ll know if snipe is a 2 hits or 3 hits.

AyumilovePost authorJune 25, 2017 at 10:47 PM

@xBolt: Thanks for checking out the Snipe skill. I’ll revert the changes in the Snipe description :-)

xBoltJune 25, 2017 at 6:55 PM

Snipe actually hits only two times. The third hit comes from bolt surplus not from snipe itself. So the description was correct.

AyumilovePost authorJune 22, 2017 at 7:47 AM

@Frozzem: Thanks for the feedback. I have updated the Snipe skill description from 2 attacks to 3 attacks.

FrozzemJune 21, 2017 at 3:53 AM

Hey Ayumi, snipe actually hits 3 times, the descrition states 2 hits but in fact its 3. Here is a Screenshot of it http://imgur.com/a/2aSMW

KeahzirMay 30, 2017 at 12:26 PM

Hello,

I just wanted do ask something. What do you guys think about the change that has been made to snipe, is it better or weaker than it was before? And why is the lvl 150 hyper skill buff is that useless? It seem pretty good to me.

sereneMay 4, 2017 at 11:18 AM

Hi,

I just started playing my sniper after a very long time. Im at lvl 115 and yet to do the 4th job advancement. All my SP was reset and I maxed out everything except for dragon’s breath, which only has 1 SP to it. Your guide has 4/10, so I’m missing 3 SP here. Am I missing something?

AyumilovePost authorApril 17, 2017 at 11:19 PM

@Dean: It’s a great idea, but unfortunately I do not have much time in getting that done since my hands is full with updating MapleStory skills. MapleStory do tend to change item drops from monsters and it would be much of a hassle to identify and update few hundred monsters, unless you know an efficient way of doing it :)

AyumilovePost authorApril 17, 2017 at 11:15 PM

@Michael: Sorry for the late reply. I have updated the Marksman skills for “Snipe – Limit Break”, High Speed Shot, “Snipe – Boss Slayer”, Sharp Eyes.

Hey Ayumi, the days have been crazy busy, but the changes are on their way, promise!!

player0987December 27, 2016 at 5:25 PM

wow. you have so much time to do all this? and your own website has just about everything thats necessary. thanks alot ayumilove8. your website is sooooo my online guide book.

MichaelDecember 22, 2016 at 6:08 AM

Oh, and Snipe – Limit Break has been changed due to the removed damage cap as off V on gms. I’ll post a full-rework on all changes before Xmas in a comment

MichaelDecember 22, 2016 at 6:05 AM

Hey Ayumi, great guide as usual! I’m seeing some major errors though. Snipe has a 2x 2250% damage setup (approx, I’ll check the actual numbers tomorrow), and High Speed Shot has a 2x 1350% damage setup (checkig numbers tomorrow as well). Also they no longer OHKO things by default. Just gigh damage. Atleast these are in effect on GMS. This has been for quite some time, I’ll get back to you within 24 hrs of posting this comment!

DeanJuly 20, 2016 at 10:38 PM

Awesome! glad i could help! I love your site and i use it for everything Maple related :D! As a suggestion something id like to see since we have the new potentials transfer system is a page for weapon and armor levels and the monsters they drop from. For example like “XXX Monster drops the level 70 One handed Sword and XXX monster drops the level 80 one handed sword” that way players can know where to go to hunt for that much needed weapon to transfer those great potentials! just a suggestion and i know it would take alot more to do then just saying it haha but just something i think would greatly help with the way the new system works ^^

AyumilovePost authorJuly 20, 2016 at 8:42 AM

@Dean: No worries! Thanks for the new update. I have changed Snipe Cooldown Cutter Required Level from 155 to 143. :)

DeanJuly 19, 2016 at 10:46 PM

Hey Ayumi sorry to be wrong before but i have just hit 140 on my Marksman, Snipe Cooldown cutter is at 143, and BOTH the other 2 snipe hypers are at 195!

AyumilovePost authorJuly 15, 2016 at 7:06 AM

@Dean: Thanks for the info, I have updated Snipe Cooldown Cutter Level requirement to 155.

DeanJuly 15, 2016 at 2:36 AM

pretty sure snipe-Cooldown Cutter is at 155 for GMS

JOHNNY CHEANJune 1, 2016 at 4:51 PM

HI. Bowman. Me from MapleSea. Correct Ayumilove say 255 SP max but my character got only 225 SP. some of the skill cant max it. Skill book all in. Maybe they didnt add SP for New Skill Job like Vital Hunter and Last Man Standing or Bolt Surplus. Thank you for reply…

B0WM4NMay 21, 2016 at 5:10 PM

@JOHNNY CHEAN
Are we talking about MapleSEA here? As Ayumilove said, 255 SP is the max SP you can get for the 4th job. Maybe you used a mastery skill book.

@EdwinTeo12: MapleSEA has issues with SP (Skill Points) distribution. The max SP you can gain from 4th job is 255. As you can see from the guide above, the total SP for all Marksman 4th Job Skills is 255 as well. So you should be able to max all skills using the latest SP system distribution.

EdwinTeo12May 13, 2016 at 9:14 AM

Hello AyumiLove,
Just to ask, my xbm has reached level 140 but i didnt manage to max the Snipe. I have used SP reset as well but still Snipe is not maxed. Is there any error that every 4th job skill will be maxed?
Thanks

AyumilovePost authorMarch 2, 2016 at 11:46 PM

@jwoo2000: That is correct.

jwoo2000March 2, 2016 at 6:39 PM

MM would benefit from Attack Speed correct? Since they have no hurricane and their snipe animation can be sped up

@jwoo2000: I would recommend you to use the mastery books based on the priority as shown in the 4th job skill build guide. For Marksman 4th job skill, that would be “Crossbow Expert”. “Bolt Surplus” skill has a max level cap of 10, therefore it does not require Mastery Book 20 nor Mastery Book 30. :)

Some of the hyper skills listed are incorrect. Snipe cooldown unlocks at 177, not 155 and both the other snipe skills unlock at 195.

Otherwise nice guide.

AyumilovePost authorFebruary 25, 2015 at 7:45 AM

@Aslal: Thanks for your feedback on the different hyper skill build!

AslalFebruary 24, 2015 at 12:46 AM

Ayumi, I’d like to say that the hyper skills vary entirely on what you plan on doing and how funded you are. If you’re not hitting 300m (soon to be 400m because of buff in KMS) with Snipe consistently, you shouldn’t be using Snipe: Limit Canceler, and Pierce: Spread would be a better option for training. I’m guessing that this guide would be for most people in that range.

If you are hitting 300m (400m in KMS) guaranteed, then it depends if you boss regularly: bossing regularly but still training from time to time, I’d suggest using all three hyper skills for Snipe along with Pierce: Spread and Pierce: Extra Strike; not training at all would probably warrant Sharp Eyes: Guardbreak and Sharp Eyes: Critical Chance instead of piercing hyper skills.

I can put a range later if needed, but I’d have to do some math on it.

TL;DR: Don’t use Snipe: Limit Canceller

JonathanDecember 31, 2014 at 7:00 PM

Sorry Ayumi, The level is based on current MapleSEA update.

JonathanDecember 31, 2014 at 6:56 PM

Ayumi, the hyper skill level you got it wrongly… The Sniping – Cooldown Reduction level required is 195. While the Sniping – Reinforce is 155

AyumilovePost authorDecember 13, 2014 at 8:21 AM

@David Nguyen: Sorry for the late reply. I have made some changes to Marksman Hyper Skill Build to cater for Snipe Limit Break in exchange for Piercing Arrow Spread.

Hey ayumi, wouls you mind share your idea of Bowmaster/ Marksman with the comparison and the differ base on your experience.

AyumilovePost authorJuly 3, 2014 at 9:14 PM

@Henk: Thanks for your feedback. It depends on player’s playstyle, some may find Arrow Illusion useful in certain situations where they need to distract monsters attention away from you, so you won’t get hit/knockback and can spam your attacks safely. However, if the boss monster always perform AOE attacks, that certainly isn’t useful but it still perform damage reflect against enemies who attack the Puppet.

HenkJuly 2, 2014 at 1:54 PM

Hey Ayumi, why do you prefer to max arrow illusion after snipe? I noticed that i barely use the skill. Is it really worth putting 30 points in it? Putting those points into maxing last man standing and vital hunter seems more useful.

MegumiJuly 1, 2014 at 1:41 AM

I started playing again few days ago and I still can’t figure my skills. What happened to Strafe? What skill should I use on 1v1?

AyumilovePost authorJune 30, 2014 at 10:10 PM

@Lyrris: Not sure whether MapleSEA will follow GMS or KMS that has the Snipe Cooldown Cutter at Level 155 (which makes it more fun when you can spam it instead of waiting for 5 seconds).

AyumilovePost authorJune 30, 2014 at 10:05 PM

@Fatewinds: It’s listed in the Hyper Skills but not in the Hyper Skill Build. If you find yourself hitting max cap damage and frequently perform boss raid, you can swap that skill with Piercing Arrow Hyper Skill.

Hello, I have a question with the snipe skill. The require lv for the snipe — cooldown cutter in maplesea is lv195. Would Maplesea revamp and unlock the snipe — cooldown cutter at lv155 ?

AyumilovePost authorJune 23, 2014 at 9:55 PM

@Itzonno: Marksman is kinda rare as most players choose Bow Master for its super speedy attacks. When comparing their skills side by side, they are kinda similar with Headshots aka Brain Scrambler. If you are into Boss Raids, Corsair is better as they have AOE Battle Ship attacks.

ItzonnoJune 23, 2014 at 8:34 AM

Hi ayumi, i was just wondering what your opinion was on a corsair compared to marksman in terms of entertainment, damage and rarity. Thx for the guides!

AyumilovePost authorMay 26, 2014 at 6:40 AM

@Marksman Player: Hi, GMS has done some revamp on their Hyper Skills before RED patch, so the skill levels here differ to MSEA. I can include the ones from MSEA if you could kindly provide them :)

Hey ayumi for the 3rd job advancement skill point distribution where do we put points into evasive boost?

AyumilovePost authorApril 6, 2014 at 11:59 PM

@Shawn Jun: Both have their pros and cons. Play the one that suits your style :D

AyumilovePost authorApril 6, 2014 at 11:58 PM

@Paulfx29: I have not used net throwing at all when bossing. But you can max Net Throwing instead of Iron Arrows should you find it more helpful in the long run. I’ll update the skill build guide based on your feedback. Thanks!

AyumilovePost authorApril 6, 2014 at 11:56 PM

@buffybot: Sorry for the late reply. I’ll take a look into Marksman Hyper Skill and fix it. I found out that the hyper skill level is changed before RED patch which is in GMS v.137 Unleashed, but in GMS v.143 RED, it did not overwrite them :)

buffybotDecember 31, 2013 at 3:42 AM

Hi, first want to say thanks for all the efforts you put into your guides. Just wanted to let you know that the cooldown cutter for snipe is no longer at level 195 and is now at 155. Reinforce for snipe is now at level 195 instead.

Paulfx29December 18, 2013 at 5:47 AM

Hi Ayumi! First of all, love your guides <3 Here's the question: Wouldn't be better to max net throwing instead of Iron arrow? I think in the long term it will be far more useful

Shawn JunNovember 20, 2013 at 8:58 PM

Crossbow master or Bow Master is better ? If Marksman is better , why ? If Bowmaster is better , why ? And how do I fund ignore ?

LWZNovember 12, 2013 at 12:13 AM

P.S. Wild Hunter’s max. critical damage is in Maplewikia, but not at your site. I think they only change Marksman. But still can someone please explain? Thanks. =)

LWZNovember 12, 2013 at 12:09 AM

Just asking, since when Crossbow Expert for Marksman the effect of min. critical damage changed to max. critical damage? Because before RED and even after Big Bang patch, BM and MM both the effect are min. critical damage. But I checked Maplewikia and your site after RED patch and found out that it is changed to max. critical damage for Marksman. Same applies to Wild Hunter. Can someone clarify this?

BobAugust 26, 2013 at 11:57 PM

Well forget to add obviously long range true shotis not for spamming but once in a while heavy damage to multiple mobs

BobAugust 26, 2013 at 11:56 PM

Well forget to add obviously long range is not f

BobAugust 26, 2013 at 11:55 PM

To eh, yes it’s 4000% and 4410% for long range true shot and snipe respectively , long range is for multiple mobs while snipe is for bossing , eg long range on all 8 Zakum arms while snipe for the body.

Eh.August 21, 2013 at 2:43 PM

I was just wondering if I got this right… Long Range True Shot is 1 atk of 4000% but Snipe is 1 hit of 4410%….?

CakeAugust 2, 2013 at 11:40 AM

I can’t say that I know for sure since I can’t play KMS to test it out; and if I could, it would be difficult to test for a 20% damage increase, since your range is always changing with each hit. But I would believe that Last Man Standing wouldn’t activate, because, to me, a mob is any enemy that can be attacked. So the arms above, below, left to, or right to, should be considered mobs. Also, on orangemushroom’s blog, he wrote that its within 80 range of either side. So I if it’s based on left and right only, it could activate, if and only if Zakum’s arms were 80+ range apart. And I don’t know what exactly range is in maplestory, so I couldn’t test/verify as to whether or not they are 80 range apart. Hope this helps.

BobJuly 30, 2013 at 9:48 PM

Thanks cake, a question regarding last man standing , will it activate when I fight Zakum when it has the arms on still, because unlike hillia, I can do multiple hits on Zakum ( eg, pierce ) and it hits more than one target, are he arms considered ” other mobs” or do I still get the 20% damage when I hit all the arms ?

CakeJuly 30, 2013 at 10:56 AM

Hi Bob, I know that you didn’t ask me, but I thought I’d give you my opinion. Piercing Arrow wasn’t nerfed because additional bolt makes it 5 hits, and charge makes you attack much faster. So I’m pretty sure it was buffed.
As for Snipe, it was nerfed. Consider that you can do max damage (50m). With one snipe, max damage that is possible is 400m. But with max you could do 500m (450m w/o hyper) Also, if you didn’t do that much damage, it’s still nerfed (considering you have all hyper skills for snipe used).
The damage difference is either 670% or 588% depending on how the 20% hyper skill works.
Hyper skill ADDS 20% damage to each attack:
Old Snipe: 10(490%+20%)=5100%
New Snipe: 1(4410%+20%)=4430%
Hyper skill MULTIPLIES 20% to each attack:
Old Snipe: 10(4.90×0.2)=10(5.88)=5880%
New Snipe: 1(44.1×0.2)=5292%
So, in conclusion, Piercing arrow buffed, Snipe nerfed.
But I heard that snipe is the strongest skill when spammable. And even more so since (as far as I know) it’s affected by weapon speed, crossbow booster and speed illusion.
Hope this helps.

BobJuly 28, 2013 at 5:02 PM

Hi, Ayumi, what’s your view on marksman in the RED patch? Did piercing get a nerf? because of reduced damage, or a buff because of the removal of charging time, im clueless about the damage calculations, and how about sniping? from 10 hits to 1 hit ( 10 hits including the old hyper skill ) , damage reduction overall, and the defense ignore, would it affect the bossing ability greatly?

AyumilovePost authorJuly 22, 2013 at 10:48 PM

Hi Peter Park, Marksman and Bow Master seems fun to play where they can swing around like spiderman. In my opinion, that skill should be the pirate’s one since it uses somewhat anchor item or grappling hook to rail into enemies. Somehow I felt it does not fit for archer. Or perhaps for Ninja/Assassin new movement skill along with their Flash Jump. I really like the have change the Piercing Shot (Pierce) where it can fire multiple times similarly to Hurricane.

Peter ParkJuly 22, 2013 at 10:09 AM

Hi. Right now my main is a Marksman, and I was wondering after the Red patch which class would be the best to play. I’ve been playing Marksman for quite a while, and was planning on probably changing it when Red comes. Which Explorer Class would be the best after Red?

AyumilovePost authorJuly 14, 2013 at 11:26 PM

Hi Just an Archer, primary skill does more damage than Dragon Pulse. For me, I don’t spam Dragon Pulse to kill enemies but push them once to keep them away at a far distance and fire away with a more powerful skill that deals more hits per enemy. If enemy can be killed in 1-2 hits with primary skill, the benefits does not get to apply their magic for both Mortal Blow and Dragon Pulse.

Monsters only take more damage if you have them at the very end (away from you) after the 1st hit from Dragon Pulse. So if the monsters are already close to you, you use Dragon Pulse. If they are far from you, you can start triggering your primary skill.

And if the target is not dead after the push, you can use this as an opportunity to rail into them to meet more monsters ahead.

Just an ArcherJuly 14, 2013 at 7:52 PM

Yes, I know how the skill is used,but the fact is that it is used and it does do damage. Mortal Blow is a terrible skill because it requires a specific set of conditions (i.e. to see it trigger consistently you’d have to be killing mobs with 7 hits which is not really feasible since mobs usually die in no more than three) to trigger for a lackluster effect (The HP restoration is meager and the instant kill effect doesn’t affect training speed in any sort of important way). This is even more true post RED since it is no longer a pre-requisite for Arrow Eruption.

You described the main use of Dragon Pulse and that alone is enough to justify maxing it. This becomes even more apparent when you take into account Distancing Sense’s damage boost (i.e. by pushing monsters away you will do more damage to them, which is more important than the boost to crit rate that you get up close because additional damage is a more consistent boost and because Marksmen have a very high crit rate to begin with).

The only reason I could imagine one wanting to leave Dragon Pulse unmaxed is so it’s less likely to kill targets you want to catch with Steig Eisen but that doesn’t really make any sense.

AyumilovePost authorJuly 14, 2013 at 2:44 PM

Hi Just an Archer, I do play Marksman and based from my experience, I find myself using it less often for defeating enemies but as a skill to knockback multiple enemies into a tight corner and later finish them with Marksman primary skill. The skill build guide above acts as a reference guide but not strictly required to be follow. I’m all ears on optimizing jobs skill build :)

Just an ArcherJuly 14, 2013 at 11:02 AM

Not maxing Dragon Pulse is stupid, Marksmen increase their damage by increasing the distance between themselves and their targets which is exactly what Dragon Pulse does. I don’t think you’ve ever played a Marksman if you would foolishly suggest that one max Mortal Blow of all things at the expense of a skill that is not only useful, but will be key well into a player’s 200s.

CakeJuly 6, 2013 at 10:34 AM

Thank you for posting the bowman revamps. :D And is Snipe’s Cooldown Cutter still Lv. 195 in KMS, even though it’s Lv. 155 in GMS? And does Epic Adventurer increase the damage I do by 5m or does it make my max range increase by 5m?

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